


i'll be yours to keep

by midnights



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Lovers, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Formalwear, Gryffindor, Gryffindor Harry, Gryffindor Liam, Hate to Love, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Hufflepuff, Hufflepuff Niall, Kinda, Kissing, Lots of kissing, Practice Kissing, Quidditch, Quidditch World Cup, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Slytherin Louis, Witches, Wizarding World, Wizards, Yule Ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:21:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3609918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnights/pseuds/midnights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>louis should've thought a lot more about who he said his fake boyfriend is, especially since he and his "significant other" kinda hate each other. most of the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll be yours to keep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hilouriously](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hilouriously/gifts).



> this was so fun to write !!!! i always enjoy writing hp aus, and i was so excited to see that this was my assignment.  
> thanks a million to my betas, c and b, who helped out immensely with this fic, i love you both !  
> this was written for hilouriously, i hope they enjoy it !!!!!
> 
> disclaimer: i don't own any of the characters in this, or any of the harry potter universe, blah, blah, blah
> 
> ALSO: since i was asked how they watched quidditch games in the common room, the answer is that someone transfigured a chair or something into a tv and they watched it ! (i'm also assuming that quidditch matches are televised)
> 
> Feel free to follow me on [tumblr](http://harryindallas.tumblr.com/) !

Louis smirks at Harry from Zayn's couch across the room. They’ve been discussing the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match for the last ten minutes. Harry seems to think that Gryffindor will win, which is, in Louis’s opinion, completely and utterly wrong.

"Oh please, Styles, you and your team aren't gonna last ten seconds in this match."

"Oh yeah? Your keeper is weak, it'll be easy as hell for me and the other chasers to get through." Harry rolls his eyes.

"Whatever you say, darling. Though I'll have you know, we have a new keeper this year. Last one graduated, remember? And your keeper's nothing special, either."

"Oi!" Liam calls from the kitchen, frowning.

He comes down the stairs with five cups of tea floating in front of him. The stairs fold up and disappear into the wall along with the doorway as soon as Liam touches the ground, and the portrait of Sirius Black slides back into place. The Head Boy and Girl common room is still a little fascinating to Louis: a large, cozy room with two couches and a few chairs, a large fireplace, and two spiral staircases. The staircases each lead to the Head Boy and Girl’s dormitories, and each of them are decorated in the blue and silver of Ravenclaw, because both the Head Boy, Zayn, and the Head Girl, Cara, are each from Ravenclaw.

Sat next to Louis is Zayn, and across from them is the couch on which Harry and Niall are spread out. He and Harry have always had a sort of love-hate relationship, even when they were younger. It all started when Louis spilled a Wideye Potion all over Harry during Potions class in their first year; Harry wasn’t able to sleep for a week. Ever since then, the two of them have had a strange kind-of-friends but kind-of-dislike-each-other sort of relationship. They’re both friends with the same people, though, so they’ve had to build up a tolerance for each other.

Louis thanks Liam as a cup of tea floats into his hands. “I was kidding about you not being a good keeper, Li. You’re a very great keeper.” He says, looking over at Liam with wide eyes. “But Slytherin’s still gonna beat your arse.”

“Why don’t you wait and see, princess? ‘m not so sure all your shit-talking is gonna add up to anything.” Harry says, grinning.

“Oh, quit bickering. Nobody cares.” Niall groans. “Also, Lou, I heard something interesting today.”

“Should I be worried?” Louis asks, and Zayn laughs.

Niall blinks a few times, thinking. “Depends.”

“Go on, tell us!” Liam yells.

“Alright, alright, calm down." Niall laughs. "Bressie told me that Greg is gonna ask you to the ball."

"Greg? That big tall bloke?" Harry snorts.

"Oh, bollocks." Louis groans. He likes Greg, Greg's a great guy, but not exactly someone Louis wants to spend hours browsing dress robes and slow dancing with.

Zayn nudges his side. "What're you gonna say?"

"I'm going to hope and pray that he doesn't ask me." Louis says bluntly.

Harry rolls his eyes. “Good luck with that.”

\--

It’s in Potions class the next day that Louis realizes how rotten his luck is. He’s working on a draft of Amortentia with Calum (which is beginning to smell like cinnamon, and he has no idea where that’s coming from) when Greg comes over to their table. Greg leans up against the table and crosses his arms. Louis avoids looking at him, and continues stirring his potion intently.

“If you’re doing it right,” Says Professor Hughston, “you should begin to smell things you’re attracted to. For example, I smell butterbeer, Honeydukes’ legendary candy floss, and Mum’s home-cooked stew.”

“Hey, Louis.” Greg says kindly.

Louis chews on the inside of his cheek. “Hel _lo_ , Gregory. How’s your potion coming? Working with Niall, yeah?”

“Uh, yeah- he’s-” Louis and Greg look over at Niall, who’s adding something to his cauldron. “he’s good. Uh, the reason I came over here, is bec-”

“Calum, hand me a vile? Might need this for something someday, if you know what I mean.” Louis interrupts Greg in a last-ditch attempt to change the subject, and winks at Calum. Calum is clearly fighting back the urge to laugh.

When Louis looks up, Greg’s face is very red. “Um, because I wanted to ask if you want to go to the ball? With me? Like, as each other’s dates?” A relieved sigh falls from his lips.

It takes Louis about 0.3 seconds to come up with an excuse.

“Oh, Greggie, I’m sorry.” Louis makes a sad face. “I’m going with my boyfriend.” He says earnestly.

“Your boyfriend?” Greg’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, who is he?”

“Oh, um. Harry Styles? Y’know, the Gryfffindor.” Louis says quickly, cheeks burning.

Greg nods. “But… I thought you two hated each other?”

“Oh,” Louis shakes his head. “we, uh, he asked me out to Madam Puddifoot’s the other day, and it just. Kinda happened.”

“Oh. Well, uh. Okay. Have fun, I guess.” Greg says slowly.

“I’m sorry, Greg. I really am.” Louis says, in all honesty.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s fine.” Greg says quickly, and walks away.

“You’re a horrible person.” Calum snorts.

Louis glares at him. “Shut your mouth, Hood.”

“You’re dating Harry?” Calum asks.

Suddenly Louis realizes his horrible mistake.

“Yeah… I’m dating Harry.” He nods.

Calum rolls his eyes, and Louis goes back to their potion. The scent of cinnamon is becoming stronger, along with the smell of quidditch gear and lavender bubbles like the ones in Zayn’s special Head Boy bathroom. After a while surrounded by his favorite scents, Louis starts to feel lightheaded, so he flops into his seat and lets Calum finish the potion. When Professor Hughston dismisses class, Louis rushes out, hoping to find Harry.

While on his way to the Divination Tower, where he knows Harry’s last class is, Louis catches sight of a familiar head of long, dark hair. He jogs to catch up with Harry and throws an arm around his shoulders. This is a bit awkward, because Harry is about four or five inches taller than Louis, so he has to walk on his tippy toes to keep up with him.

“Harry, darling, how are you?” He asks, voice syrupy-sweet.

Harry narrows his eyes at him. “What do you want?”

Louis gasps, scandalized. “I would never even _think_ to butter you up and ask for something!”

“Just tell me.” Harry laughs.

“Okay, Okay. Prepare yourself.” Louis says dramatically. “I _kinda_ might have panicked and told Greg James that we’re dating to avoid going to the ball with him?”

Harry stops walking. “ _Kinda_? You _kinda_ told him that we’re _dating_?!”

“I’m sorry?” Louis tries.

“Do we- I have to- We would have to pretend that we’re in love, wouldn’t we?” Harry sighs.

Louis nods slowly. “Please do this for me?” He asks, putting on his best puppy-eyes.

“No way.” Harry shakes his head and starts walking again.

“Harry-” Louis follows him, grabbing his wrist. “I really, really need you to do this. I can’t go to this thing with Greg, he’s just so awkward, and I can’t just not be dating you now that I’ve told him, and-”

“Louis, this isn’t my problem.” Harry keeps walking.

“Harry!”

“Louis! It’s your fault you’re in this, now go fix it and tell Greg that we aren’t dating.” Harry says.

“I can’t! Then everyone will know that I lied about dating you and I’ll sound so, _so_ dumb, and just-” Louis groans. “Harry, please. I’ve known you for seven, almost eight years now, and not once have I really, honestly needed you to do something for me. Please.”

He watches as Harry throws his arms up in defeat. “Alright! I’ll do it.” Harry sighs.

Louis beams. “You will?!”

“Yes. _But_ -” Harry grins. “I’m gonna need you to ask nicely.”

“Ask you nicely? Ask you nicely what?” Louis narrows his eyes.

“Ask me nicely,” Harry smirks, “to _date_ you, Louis.”  

Louis cocks his hip and puts a hand on it. “Okay, fine. Will you go out with me?” He asks quickly.

“Hm.” Harry puts his hand on his chin like he’s thinking. “No.”

“No?! You absolute-” Louis takes a deep breath. “Okay. Harry?”

“Yes?” Harry giggles.

“My sweet, lovely, Harry?”

“Yeees?”

Louis gives him a sweet smile. “Would you please, please do me the honor of going out with me?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“‘Okay’? Just ‘okay’? I must admit, I was expecting you to be a bit more excited, darling.” Louis frowns.

“You do realize that we have to start acting like a couple now, right? Like, holding hands and such? Because we do. Have to do that. Now.” Harry says slowly.

Louis wrinkles his nose. “Oh, ew, I guess we do.”

“Well, might as well start now. You’re heading to Zayn’s, right?” Harry asks, taking Louis’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

Louis ignores how soft and warm Harry’s hand is. “Yeah, I- yeah.”

They start walking down the spiraling staircase. Students of all ages are making their way up and down it, and it seems to take Harry and Louis ages to reach the bottom. On their way to Zayn’s, they run into Cara, who’s talking animatedly with her friends. She glances at them holding hands, but doesn’t say anything about it. She does, however, tell them that the password’s been changed to “pigwidgeon”.

“So, _Lou_ , remind me exactly how we fell in love? Don’t wanna mix up the story or anything like that, y’know.” Harry looks at Louis, and it’s easy to tell that he’s holding back a snicker.

“Well,” Louis racks his brain, trying to remember what he told Greg. “I think it was when you asked me to go to Madam Puddifoot’s with you? I think that- that might’ve been when.”

“Oh, _I_ asked _you_ , okay. Of course.” Harry nods.

When they reach the portrait of Dumbledore, the old man grins at him through his half-moon spectacles and lets them inside as soon as Harry utters the password. As soon as they get inside, they tear their hands apart, each of them making a disgusted noise. Zayn is sitting on the couch, reading a huge book that Louis hopes is for school, and not his sick idea of reading “for fun”.

“Hello, lads. Any reason why you’re holding hands?” Zayn asks without looking up.

“Louis has gotten us into some shit.” Harry says, flopping on the couch across from Zayn. Louis sits with him, because, well. He’ll have to get used to him eventually.

Zayn folds over a page and shuts the book. “What‘ve you done now, Lou?” He sighs.

“I panicked, okay?!” Louis groans, putting his head in his hands.

Harry answers for him. “That Greg James bloke asked him to the ball, so instead of turning him down like a _normal person_ would, Louis told him that he couldn’t go with him because he’s going with his _boyfriend_. Who’s apparently me.”

“And… you’re upset because you don’t want people to think you’re gay?” Zayn asks slowly.

“What?” Harry snorts. “No, I don’t care if people know I’m gay, that doesn’t matter.”

“Then… why are you upset?”

“Because now we have to act all coupley in front of everyone.” Harry sighs.

"I see." Zayn grins. “You two are gonna suck at pretending.”

Louis looks up from his hands. “Don’t insult me, Zayn, I took Trelawney’s acting class one year,”

“Yeah, but you barely passed cause you couldn’t ‘ _broaden your mind_ ’ enough to inhibit your roles.” Harry says, and Louis and Zayn burst out laughing.

When they’ve calmed down, Zayn says, “Go ahead, then, do your little joke. See if you can fool Niall and Liam.”

“Alright, fine.” Louis says stubbornly.

In answer, Zayn goes back to his book. Louis drapes his legs over Harry’s lap, narrowing his eyes at Harry when he looks over at him, confused. When Niall and Liam come in, Harry’s hands go to Louis’s legs, idly playing with the bottom of his pants. Niall’s got something all down the front of his jumper, and Liam looks as proper as he always does: tie perfectly knotted, jumper flawlessly situated, and the button-up shirt underneath immaculately white.

“‘lo, boys.” Liam says, sitting next to Zayn on the couch. He doesn’t notice that Harry and Louis are cuddled up together, and only says, “Harry, do we have quidditch practice today? I can’t remember, I spilled a Forgetfulness Potion all over myself, and it seems to have… sunken in.”

Louis laughs, and Harry pinches his ankle. “Yeah, we’ve got practice in an hour.” He says.

“Louis…” Niall says slowly.

“Hm?”

“You’re touching.” Niall is staring intently at his legs. “You never touch. What’s going on?”

Louis looks at Harry, and Harry looks right back at him. Each of them are close to laughing, but Harry manages to speak up. “We, uh. Well, the other night, we went on a date at Madam Puddifoot’s,” Harry’s hand comes to rest on Louis’s thigh.

Louis resists the urge to smack him. “After my quidditch practice.” He adds.

“After Lou’s quidditch practice, yes, and I saw him, and I just. Asked him.” Harry says, giving Louis a cheesy and completely fake smile.

“And that was it, it just sort of… happened.” Louis shrugs, giving Harry and equally fake smile right back.

“Aw.” Liam says, grinning at them.

Zayn is peering at them from over his book, and Louis can see that he’s trying not to laugh.

Niall narrows his eyes at them. “Alright then. Give ‘im a kiss.”

“Give- _what_?” Louis asks quickly.

“Give. Him. A kiss.” Niall says, smirking. “Give him a kiss.”

Louis folds his arms over his chest. “I don’t have to prove anything to you.”

Harry groans and leans toward Louis. He presses a kiss to his cheek, making a dramatic ‘ _mwah_ ’ sound. A flush creeps over Louis’s cheeks, and he ignores it, turning to smirk at Niall. He seems satisfied, sitting back.

“Oookay then. If you say so.” He says.

Zayn says something about the quidditch game coming up, and Louis brings a hand to his cheek. It feels like it’s burning, like there’s a gaping hole the exact shape of Harry Styles’s plump lips burnt into his left cheek. Harry catches his eye and gives an exaggerated, exasperated sigh, and a look that Louis knows means they have to try harder. He turns around on the couch, shifting so his head is rested in Harry’s lap.

Harry’s hands go to his hair, and Louis bats them away with an audible ‘slap’ before he realizes what he’s doing. When he looks over, he sees that all three of their friends are looking at them, confused. Louis looks back up at Harry and smiles, taking his hands.

“Just didn’t want you to ruin it, love.” Louis says in a sweet, sugary voice.

“I’ll try not to, babe.” Harry says with an equally sugared voice.

Harry’s hands go back to his hair, and Louis has to fight the urge not to cringe at the contact. Niall, Liam, and Zayn go back to whatever they were talking about, and Louis goes back to making faces at Harry. The hands playing with Louis’s hair are warm and soft, and every once in a while one of Harry’s finger brushes over his forehead.

They spend the rest of their time together cuddling, and then Harry and Liam have to leave for quidditch practice. Harry pulls Louis along with him when he leaves, so they seem like a proper couple. His hand is still on Louis’s when they’re out of Liam’s sight, though, and Louis wrenches it away as casually as possible.

“Get your hands off me.” Louis snaps, glaring at Harry.

“Trust me, I don’t fancy touching you, either, okay?” Harry rolls his eyes as they begin the descent down the stairs to the main corridor.

“It’s too late to back out now, isn’t it?” Louis asks, wrinkling his nose.

“Yep.” Harry nods. “Especially since you told Greg you couldn’t go with him ‘cause you have a date’. If we ‘break up’, he’ll still want to go to the ball with you.”

Louis mimics throwing himself off the flight of stairs. He looks around, and quickly sees that they’re nearing the second floor, and are nowhere near the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. “Hang on. Where‘re we going? Your common room’s on the seventh floor.”

“I’m walking you to your common room.” Harry says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m being a good boyfriend.”

“Oh, Merlin.” Louis pretends to gag. “Never say the word boyfriend to me again.”

“Boyfriend? That word?” Harry asks, grinning wildly.

Louis cringes. “ _Yes_ , that word, you dummy.”

Harry laughs, bumping Louis’s shoulder with his. They reach the dungeons, and walk down the corridor towards the hidden door that opens to the common room. Louis can already hear the swishing of the black lake coming from his common room.

“So, what’s the password this time?” Harry asks, raising his eyebrows.

“ _Harry_!” Louis gasps, scandalized. "You are a _Prefect_! You should know that is strictly _against the rules_!”

“C’mon,” Harry laughs. “just go in, I have to get to quidditch.”

“Fine.” Sighs Louis. “Password’s belladonna.”

Immediately, part of the stone wall disappears, and the common room is made visible. Inside, Louis can see the greenish windows, and hear the lapping of the black lake against them. A few couches and chairs are arranged in a half circle towards the wall, in front of the fireplace that’s been bewitched so it always burns green. Closer to the door, a set of Wizard’s Chess is playing without anyone commanding its pieces, and a few students are doing homework at the tables.

“Gimme a nice big hug now, don’t want anyone to think we’ve got trouble in paradise, yeah?” Harry pulls him into a hug.

His arms go around Louis’s waist, and he pulls their chests together. Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s back, trying to make a face that doesn’t show how disgusted he is. Harry smells like sandalwood and cologne, and something else underneath. Hm. Louis will have to determine what it is; things like that bother him if he never finds out.

“Ohhh, yeah.” Harry nods, rubbing Louis’s back. “This is nice, innit?”

Louis glares at him. “You shut your mouth, Harry Styles.”

“Goodbye, darling.” Harry says wistfully as he releases Louis from his grasp.

“Go away.” Louis grumbles. He makes a startled noise when Harry’s lips are on his cheek again, warm and soft and a little chapped.

Harry saunters off, leaving Louis with a flush on his cheeks and the ghost of a smile on his lips. Inside the common room, it’s noticeably warmer, which always interested Louis, because it’s half under water and also one of the lowest points of the castle. Louis finds Calum, Stan, and Michael sitting on one of the couches. He flops down on the chair next to the couch, sighing dramatically.

“Rough day, Tomlinson?” A sly, familiar voice says.

Louis looks over. Nick Grimshaw is draped over one of the chairs, looking at Louis with a smirk. Rolling his eyes, Louis turns away. Unlike him and Harry, who, underneath, probably don’t detest each other to some extent, Louis and Nick actually hate each other. It started in first year, when Louis told Nick he had a big head and an ugly nose after he made fun of Zayn. Since then, Louis and Nick have thrown insults at each other at every opportunity.

“‘ve you seen Harry today? Was wondering if he’s got a date to the dance, you see.” Nick asks, cocking his head at Louis.

Louis turns to look at him, putting on a smile. “I hope I’ve seen him today, he is my boyfriend, after all.” He tacks on a laugh at the end.

“Oh?” Nick raises an eyebrow. “Thought you two hated each other.”

“Well then we wouldn’t make a very good couple, would we, Grimmy?” Louis asks, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Maybe that’s because you’re not a couple.” Nick smirks.

Louis snorts. “You’re ridiculous.”

“You hate Harry. Harry dislikes you, he doesn’t hate you. Dunno if he hates anybody, actually. Regardless, neither of you are dumb enough to date someone you don’t like.” Nick rolls his eyes.

“Ask Harry, then. If you’re so keen on not believing me.” Louis runs a hand through his hair. It’s still all ruffled from Harry playing with it.

Nick cocks his head, considering. “Alright, I will. We’ll see what he says, won’t we, Tommo?” He sneers Louis’s nickname, one his friends used to call him in his second and third years.

“You don’t have to bother telling me, I know what he’ll say.” Louis snaps, turning back to his friends

Stan, Michael and Calum are bickering over a recent professional quidditch match, Yorkshire vs. Barnton. Once they’re done arguing, the four of them get started on their homework. Professor Binns decided to give them an essay that has to fill an entire roll of parchment, front and back, on “what they think A History of Magic teaches”. Needless to say, all seventh year Slytherins are in the common room until late that night, cursing and complaining as they try to finish their essays.

It’s late when Louis finally gets to bed. He changes into his pyjamas and then climbs between the sheets, feeling the ghost of Harry’s lips on his cheek and the warmth of his hand on Louis’s.

\--

The next day, Louis has Defense Against the Dark Arts with Harry first period. He wakes up late, as his friends decided it would be funny to let him keep sleeping while everyone else left. By the time Louis wakes up, it’s ten minutes into class. He scrambles to get ready, pulling on his trousers and white shirt so fast it surprises even him. His robe is hung on the hanger between his and Calum’s beds, and in his haste to grab it, Louis tears it along one of the seams.

There’s no time to repair it with a spell, though, so Louis pulls it on and throws his green and silver tie around his neck like a scarf before he grabs his bag and sprints into the common room. The doorway opens up just a few feet before Louis reaches it, and he runs through it and down the corridor, cursing over and over again on his way to the staircases.

Of course, though, since it’s Hogwarts, and nothing ever goes Louis’s way at this school, the stairs decide to move extra slowly while Louis’s on them. He groans, jumping up and down a few times, as if maybe that will speed them up. Eventually, he makes it to the third floor, where the classroom is located. He makes it down the corridor in record time, and stops just outside the classroom.

As quietly as he can, Louis edges the door open and slips inside, saying a silent thank you that Harry is sitting towards the back of the room. He’s saved Louis a seat next to him, and Louis tiptoes over to it and sits down. Unfortunately, Professor Bertram sees him.

“Tomlinson,” He says, still writing on the board. “I know you have trouble with waking up, but that doesn’t mean you can come into class late just because you wish to stay in bed a few more minutes.”

“Prof-”

“Ten points,” Bertram says loudly. “is all I’ll take from Slytherin today. Next time, though, it’ll be twenty five.”

“Yes, sir.” Louis hangs his head, and grins when Harry looks over at him.

Reaching into his bag, Louis takes out his book, and then his notes, along with a quill and ink bottle. When he sits up, Louis gets to work on his tie. His fingers fumble over the green and silver fabric, unsure of how to tie it. It’s too early for this. Harry laughs quietly, and then silent laughter overtakes both of them as he reaches over to fix it. Harry’s nimble fingers knot the tie correctly in seconds, and he presses a kiss to Louis’s cheek when he’s done.

It brings a flush to Louis’s cheeks, and he elbows Harry lightly. “What page?” He whispers.

Harry points to his book. It’s on page 394. “How come you were late? Not that I’m opposed to Slytherin losing points, but. Y’know.”

“Well,” Louis frowns, “I guess my roommates decided it would be funny to let me sleep in. I enjoyed the sleeping in, but. Not the losing points part.”

Harry smiles, and Louis can see his dimple sink into his cheek.

He’s beautiful.

Neither of them say anything else, and go back to their books. As soon as Louis begins listening to what Professor Bertram is saying, he understands that they’re studying Dementors. Louis knows about dementors, those cold, soul-sucking non-beings that feed on human happiness. Bertram goes over them briefly, as they studied them in-depth in fifth year. That was when Louis first learned how to produce a patronus.

After he reviews Dementors, Bertram moves on to Inferi. The discussion disgusts Louis, so he stops listening and casually stares at Harry for the remainder of it. Then, he remembers something important.

“Harry,” He whispers.

“Hm?” Harry looks up.

“I-” Louis chews on the inside of his cheek. “Can you… not sit with Grimshaw today?”

Harry smirks. “Is Louis Tomlinson _jealous_?” He gasps. “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Well… aren’t I supposed to be?” Louis frowns, his cheeks heating up.

“Mhm.” Harry nods with a small smile. “And sure, I won’t sit with him. I’ll sit with you.”

Louis nods, and Harry kisses his cheek again. Just like last time, it brings a flush to Louis’s cheek, no matter how hard he tries to will it away. To avoid letting Harry see him blush, Louis turns back to his book, suddenly very interested in Inferi, even though they’re gross. Out of the corner of his eye, Louis can see Harry smiling as he looks down at his book.

Later, at lunch, Harry plops down next to Louis as he takes a bite of his sandwich. Yet another kiss is pressed to Louis’s cheek, and this time, he’s able to play it off as normal. Somewhat. Harry’s tie is askew, so Louis straightens it and then turns back to Zayn.

“You were saying?” He asks, mouth full of peanut butter and jelly.

Zayn raises an eyebrow. “I was telling you about the Astronomy lesson on Wednesday night, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” Louis nods. “I think it’s unnecessary. An eclipse is nothing special.” He shrugs.

“I think it’s interesting.” Harry speaks up. “Not too keen on waking up, though.”

Louis looks over at him, holding up the other half of his sandwich. “Want some?” He asks with his mouth still full of food.

Harry narrows his eyes at Louis. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“I mean, you are my boyfriend, so I hope I’m being nice.” Louis shrugs.

Harry raises an eyebrow.

“Okay! It’s cause Grimshaw wants to ask you to the ball.” Louis says, hanging his head.

A grin creeps onto Harry’s face, and then he bursts out laughing. Louis looks up, and crosses his arms over his chest. Zayn’s laughing too, but now they’re just laughing at Louis. Frowning, Louis turns to face the other way. A pair of hands take his shoulders gently, and he’s pulled into Harry’s chest. Louis gets a whiff of the scents of sandalwood and cologne, and breathes it in as Harry hugs him.

“Aw. You _are_ jealous.” Harry kisses his temple.

“I am not.” Louis pouts.

“You aaaare! Look at his face!” Harry sings, and Zayn laughs harder.

Louis pulls out of Harry’s embrace. “I hate you.” He mutters.

“I _looooove_ you!” Harry says with a cheesy grin, still laughing a bit. “C’mon now, gimme a hug, it might look like we’re arguing, and we don’t want that, love.”

Louis does his best not to move as Harry’s long limbs wrap around him.

“Please stop touching me.” He growls.

Harry squeezes him tighter. “Oh _nooo_ , you _love_ my hugs, don’t you my darling?”

“I hate you.”

“You’re the one who asked me to do this,” Harry sings.

“And right now I wish I hadn’t,” Louis sings back.

\--

The warmth of the castle is of stark contrast to the cold air outside. Louis adjusts his grip on his broom, and begins the journey to the staircases. As he’s about to begin the descent to the Slytherin Dungeons to wash up, a pair of arms wrap around his waist and pull him into someone’s chest. He can tell that it’s Harry by his smell, and by the way he gives a small laugh when Louis jumps.

“Hello, love.” Harry mutters.

“Oh, we’ve graduated to ‘love’ now? I didn’t know.” Louis snickers.

“Actually, you called me it first.” Harry says, spinning Louis around to kiss the top of his head. “Oh, yuck, you’re all sweaty.”

Louis looks at the broom in his hand, and then at the quidditch gear he’s wearing. “Yeah, wonder why that is.”

“No need to be rude about it.” Harry frowns. “You going to wash up?”

“Yeah, ‘m on my way to the Slytherin washrooms now.” Louis nods.

“Why don’t you just come to Zayn’s with me? The washrooms at his place ‘re a lot nicer.” Harry suggests.

“Alright, yeah.” Louis nods.

Harry’s not wrong. The washrooms in the Head Boy and Girl’s common rooms are a lot nicer.

“Want me to carry that?” Harry reaches for Louis’s broom.

“No, that’s alright. I was just gonna send it to my dorm.” Louis shrugs, taking out his wand.

He sends it to his dorm with a wave of his wand, and then takes Harry’s hand as they start upstairs. When they reach Zayn’s common room, they tell the password to the portrait of Dumbledore and then step inside. Zayn is coming down the stairs from the kitchen, holding a cup of tea with a scone in his mouth. He’s in pyjamas, and his hair’s all ruffled, like he’d been asleep prior to his trip to the kitchens.

When Zayn reaches the bottom of the stairs, they fold up and disappear into the wall, and the portrait of Sirius Black slides back into place. Zayn gives Harry and Louis a wave, and doesn’t even ask why they’ve just burst into his dorm. Once they’ve all sat down on the couch, Zayn takes the scone out of his mouth and places it on the napkin on the table.

“Do you guys just live here now? Like, is this a communal dorm?” Zayn asks, narrowing his eyes at Louis and Harry.

Louis shrugs. “It was Harry’s idea. I’m here to use your shower. Just came from quidditch, y’see.”

“I can _smell_.” Zayn wrinkles his nose, and Harry and Louis laugh.

“Well? Can I use it?” Louis presses.

“Go for it, ‘s long as it doesn’t smell as bad as you when you’re done.” Zayn makes a face.

Louis rolls his eyes as he starts up the stairs. He doesn’t bother locking the door, as Zayn and Harry both know there’s someone in there. First Louis takes off his green and silver jersey, tossing it on the floor. His long-sleeved shirt comes off next, and then his t-shirt (it was _cold_ out there, okay?). Once he’s toed off his shoes, Louis pulls off his trousers, and then he’s left in just boxers.

Of course, this is where Harry comes in.

The door is shoved open and Harry steps inside, face red and out of breath. His eyes wander down Louis’s bare chest and all the way down his legs. Louis doesn’t care if he sees anything, really. It’s nothing Harry hasn’t seen before.

“What in the name of Merlin are you doing in here?” Louis snaps.

“Panicked,” Harry pants.

“Panicked? Panicked how?” He presses.

“I dunno, I heard Liam and Niall coming in the just, like, ran up here and I don’t know why, and-” Harry sighs. “Yeah.”

Louis narrows his eyes. “So you came in _here_? Harry, that doesn't make any sense." 

“I- um- I know.” Harry nods, snapping his gum.

“O...kay.”

Louis turns around to grab a towel from the cabinet.

“Nice arse, by the way.” Harry says, and Louis can hear the grin in his voice.

He spins around, groaning. “Oh, get out of here, you menace. There's no point in hanging out in the loo with me.” He whacks Harry’s shoulder.

“Alright, alright.”

Harry leaves, shutting the door behind him. When he’s gone, Louis catches the distinct scent of cinnamon gum.

When he’s finished his shower, Louis borrows some of Zayn’s clothes and then settles on the couch with Harry. One of them conjured a television, and the four of them are intently watching a quidditch match. After a moment of watching, Louis sees that the Wimbourne Wasps are beating Lancashire 70-50. Harry’s hand is resting on his thigh, large and warm. Louis puts his hand on top of it, slotting his fingers between Harry’s.

The game is in prep for the European Cup, which comes to a close at the end of the summer. Louis’s been rooting for the Wasps from the start. The Wasps win, but Lancashire still has a chance to be one of the two teams from their group that gets to advance. After the game, Harry holds Louis’s hand as he walks him down to his common room.

“You don’t have to keep doing this, you know.” Louis says quietly as they walk down the corridor to the hidden door. “Walking me all the way down here. You’re on the seventh floor.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind. I like it down here. Very quiet.” Harry smiles. He’s too _nice_.

Louis groans. “ _Why_ are you so _nice_ to me? I’ve never been anything but rude to you.”

“Yeah, but that’s because all we ever do is bicker. But I’ve seen you around Zayn and Liam and Niall. You _are_ kind, underneath all that manly armor.” Harry’s thumb strokes over the back of Louis’s hand.

“But not to you.” Louis whines. “I don’t get it. It’s like you don’t even _care_.”

Harry shrugs. “Well, I do care when you say something _actually_ mean, like that my hair’s dumb or something, but. You haven’t said anything _actually_ mean in a long time.”

It’s too late for Louis to say anything else, as they’ve reached the entrance to the Slytherin Dungeons. “Belladonna.” He mutters, and the person-sized doorway appears. “Right.”

“See you tomorrow, love.” Harry says, pressing a kiss to Louis’s cheek.

“You’re gonna lose so bad you’ll be crying for hours, darling.”

“I seriously doubt that, but okay.”

Louis laughs as he steps inside, and he waits until the door shuts to start smiling like an idiot. He heads to bed early, as he has to wake up at an ungodly hour for the game tomorrow. After he changes into pyjamas and climbs into bed, no matter how hard he tries, Louis can’t keep himself from thinking of Harry.

\--

It’s barely even light out when Calum and Stan begin throwing socks at him to wake him up.

He groans, covering his face with his duvet. Once he climbs out of bed, Louis pulls a long-sleeved shirt over his t-shirt, and then his jersey over both. His trousers come next, along with an extra pair of long-johns, and then his socks, and finally his boots. He, Calum, and Stan find Perrie on her way down from her dorm, and the four of them make their way to the locker rooms.

The sky is grey, almost matching Louis’s mood. He’s still half asleep when he gets into the locker room, where the rest of the team is waiting. Jesy and Jade are sitting on one of the benches, leaning on each other, and Louis is pretty sure they’re almost asleep. When he clears his throat though, the whole team stands, jumping to attention.

“Right. ‘m not going to make this long, because I’m sure we all know what I’m going to say. We can beat these pansies. They haven’t got anything on us. We’re faster, stronger, and better trained. So, uh, let’s get out there and beat their arses, yeah?”

The team nods, and they head onto the field. The stadium is alive with the cheers of students and teachers alike, and Louis spots a huge banner that reads “TOMLINSON RULES” in the Slytherin section. There are a  few other banners too, some for Slytherin and some for Gryffindor and some that Louis can’t tell who they’re rooting for. He feels totally awake now, even more so as he catches sight of Harry as Gryffindor makes their way onto the field.

Madam Hooch blows her whistle, and the players assume their positions (on the ground). She calls for captains, and Louis and Harry each step forward. The crowd gets noticeably louder as he and Harry wink at each other.

“Now I want a nice, clean game.” Madam Hooch says, motioning for them to shake hands. They do, and the crowd goes wild. “From _all of you_.”

She turns to look at Andy Samuels, who rolls his eyes. Louis and Harry go back to their positions as center chasers, and then the whistle blows for them to get on their brooms. Straddling his broomstick, Louis rises into the air, shivering at the biting wind. Harry catches his eye and grins, and Louis smirks right back. Then the whistle blows, and all four balls rise into the air.

And then they’re off.

Calum grabs the quaffle right away, and zooms towards the goal posts. He fakes towards the left goal post and throws it at the center. Liam falls for it,  and a loud bell chimes through the stadium. The crowd goes wild, and the Gryffindor side of the stadium cheers even louder as Harry gets a hold of the quaffle.

Narrowing his eyes, Louis speeds towards Harry, hot on his trail. When he gets close enough that he and Harry are side by side, Louis rams into Harry, and Harry drops the quaffle. Underneath them, Jade catches it, and then tosses it to Calum, who scores again. When the quaffle comes to Louis, he throws it to Jade and flies around one of the Gryffindor players.

Jade throws it back to Louis, and he throws it at one of the goal posts as hard as he can. Though he gets a hand on it, Liam isn’t able to keep it from going in. Shortly after, Harry scores on Michael twice in quick succession.

The game continues like that, neck and neck, until Gryffindor finally pulls ahead by fifty points. Louis finds himself being rammed into by Andy more times than necessary, and he can tell that the team is losing their motivation. Instead of letting it bother him, Louis rams into Andy and makes him drop the quaffle, catching it himself. He heads for the goal posts and wails the quaffle towards the left goal post. Liam gets a hand on it but misses, making the score 90-50, with Gryffindor still in the lead.

That changes, though, when Louis hears the whistle blow, and sees that Perrie’s just caught the snitch.

She flies towards the stands, holding the little golden ball proudly in the air. Everyone in the stands is yelling, whether it be cheering or booing, and Louis is finally able to make out Niall and Zayn, who are holding up a sign that says “LOUIS TOMLINSON SLEEPS WITH A NIGHTLIGHT”. Despite himself, Louis grins.

He floats down towards the ground, where his team is hugging and cheering. As he touches down on the grass, Louis catches sight of Harry walking towards him with that lopsided half-smile that he’s starting to adore. Leaving his broom by the ones of his teammates, along with his gloves, Louis jogs over to him. As he gets close, Harry breaks into a full-on smile, arms spreading wide to hug Louis.

Louis does him one more, launching himself into his arms, legs wrapping around Harry’s waist. With a startled laugh, Harry brings his arms under Louis’s bum and thighs to hold him up, and Louis’s hands go to Harry’s cheeks. When their lips finally meet it feels like there’s a supernova radiating inside Louis’s stomach, bright and bursting and electric. Harry’s lips taste like cinnamon gum and sweat and his hands are warm and soft (he must’ve taken his gloves off too) and Louis’s heart has never beat this fast.

It’s hard for Louis to determine whether or not he’s kissing Harry because of their “relationship”, or because he really and truly wants to, but, honestly, he really and truly doesn’t care. Louis kisses Harry slowly at first, but when Harry kisses him back, opening his mouth to let Louis’s tongue in and the like, Louis kisses him harder, like he’s trying to coax something out of him.

They separate as the crowd starts cheering for them, like they’re some acclaimed power couple or something. Embarrassed, Louis nudges for Harry to put him down. Harry does, but not after pressing a kiss to Louis’s nose. Hand in hand, they make their way into the locker room to take off their gear, and then head to the entrance of the stadium, where their friends are waiting.

“Well there’s my favorite couple!” Niall calls, squeezing between them and throwing an arm around each of their shoulders.

Louis can’t keep the silly grin off of his face. “Hey, Niall.”

“We’re headed to the Three Broomsticks to celebrate, ‘re you two in?” Liam asks.

“Uh,” Louis looks over at Harry, who smiles and nods. “I think so, yeah.”

So they make their way down the path to Hogsmeade with their friends, everyone hugging Harry and Louis and congratulating them on how well they played. It’s a large group of people, the whole lot of them and their friends, all heading towards the tiny village of Hogsmeade in a clump. Madam Rosmerta, the bartender at the Three Broomsticks, sets up a long table for them in the corner, and they all order Butterbeers with Firewhiskey.

Louis and Harry share a plate of roasted chicken with sun-dried tomatoes and a pint of Butterbeer that continues to refill itself and hold hands and kiss so many times it makes Louis dizzy. It comes to Louis so easily that it’s almost scary. Their friends coo when they kiss, and when Louis rests his head on Harry’s shoulder because he’s so tired, and especially when Harry gives a small toast to the game, and how well he thinks Louis did.

After they eat, it’s nearly sundown, so Louis and his friends make their way back to the castle. It’s snowing now, and Louis is shivering as he walks down the path towards Hogwarts. An arm wraps around his shoulder and pulls him close, and Louis doesn’t even need to look up to know that it’s Harry. To his left is Cara, who smiles when Louis catches her eye. When they reach the castle, Louis heads back to his dorm to wash up.

As Louis pulls on a pair of blue joggers, a silvery doe glides through the wall and begins to speak in Harry’s voice. “Come over to my dorm? ‘m tired, but everyone else is still having fun in the common room. We can just lay on my bed and read, I don’t care.”

The doe gallops out, and Louis is left half-naked in the steamy washroom with a stupid smile on his face. Making up his mind, Louis pulls on his t-shirt, and then rubs his towel over his wet hair one last time before heading into his dorm to pull on a pair of shoes and a jumper. He heads to Gryffindor Tower, where he’s let inside by Ashton, who’s just come from the kitchens. Ash’s arms are full of pastries, and Louis grabs a blackberry danish for Harry and a raspberry one for himself before heading up to Harry’s dorm.

He’s stopped a few times by friends, who congratulate him on his win and tell him Gryffindor’s gonna crush them next time. When Louis finally reaches Harry’s dorm room, half of his scone is gone, which is a shame, because he wanted to share it with Harry. Harry’s laying sideways across his bed, legs hanging off one side and his head hanging off the other. His hair almost touches the floor, and his face is quite red, as all the blood’s been rushing to his head.

He stands up when he sees Louis, and stumbles a bit, disoriented from being upside-down for so long. “Hey, Lou! Oh- oops.” He stumbles again and then stands up straight.

“Hey, Haz.” Louis says softly, following Harry to sit on the bed. He hands him the danish. “I brought you a danish. It’s uh, it’s blackberry, and I have raspberry, but if you don’t like either of them I can go get something else from Asht-”

“Oh, shut up and gimme the danish.” Harry snaps, and Louis hands it to him. “Thank you. You’re sweet.”

Louis shakes his head, toeing his shoes off. “I am not _sweet_ , Harry Styles, shut your mouth.”

“I think you are, though. I told you this last night. Underneath it all, you’re kind and sweet and you have a heart. Louis Tomlinson has a heart.” Harry says happily, taking a bite of his danish. “Ooh, this is great, thank you.”

“Not true.” Louis shakes his head, his mouth completely full of danish.

Harry cocks his head. “You don’t think it’s good?”

“That’s not what I mean, you ninny.” Louis laughs. “‘m not anything special underneath. ‘m just… Louis.”

“‘Just Louis’?” Harry raises an eyebrow.

Louis just shrugs, taking another bite of his danish. “I s’pose so.”

“I don’t think ‘just Louis’ gives you enough credit. You really are something, Louis Tomlinson.”

“Something good, I hope you mean.”

“Mhm. Something very good.”

“Yeah?”

Harry nods. “Want some?” He holds the pastry out to Louis.

“‘s alright, you have it. ‘m not too hungry anymore anyway.” Louis declines as politely as he can.

“Lies! You’ve been eyeing it up for the last ten minutes!” Harry yells, laughing. Louis laughs too, snatching the danish out of Harry’s hand to take a bite.

He nods. “It’s good,” He says, laughing some more.

“Mhm. Yeah. I knew you wanted some. Admit it.” Harry giggles, looking at Louis with those pretty green eyes.

“I shall do no such thing.” Louis shakes his head, finishing the last bite of his pastry.

“Say it.” Harry glares at Louis through long eyelashes, his eyebrows furrowed together.

Louis sighs, long and loud. “Thank you, Harry, for letting me taste some of your blackberry danish, which I was staring at for quite some time.”

Harry smiles, satisfied. “You’re welcome.”

They settle into a comfortable silence then, licking the stickiness from the pastries off their fingers and slowly moving to sit closer to one another. Subtle glances are stolen over and over again, each to see if the other is looking back. Their legs are touching, and their shoulders, too, gentle brushings of skin every time they breathe, skin that’s warm and smooth and send shivers through Louis’s spine.

He looks over at Harry again, and Harry looks back, and this time they stare at each other for a moment before looking away. Pretty green eyes, the color of the churning sea during a storm, the kind of green that pushes its way through piles of freezing snow to remind one that spring will come eventually, eyes green as the deep pools of water in the Dark Forest stare back at him. Not that he wasn’t beautiful before, a short little first year with bright eyes and curly hair, but Harry’s grown so much in these past two years. He’s a man now, a tall, broad-shouldered, man who’s gone from a soft and silly teenager with crooked teeth to a firm-muscled man with deep green eyes and a bright smile.

Suddenly Harry’s lips are moving, but Louis hasn’t heard a word he said. “Sorry? Didn’t catch that.”

“Should we… D’you think we should like… practice kissing?” Harry’s cheeks are pink. “Like, so it looks normal in front of other people?”

“Um… yeah, I s’pose we should.” Louis agrees, trying not to seem too eager.

A hand slides up Louis’s neck and into his hair, which is still damp from the shower, and then Harry’s lips are folding over Louis’s. It’s slow and warm and there’s that supernova again, bright and booming and alive inside Louis, between his toes, in the crooks of his elbows and the dips of his hipbones. Harry tastes like cinnamon and raspberry and Louis probably tastes like blackberry danish and Harry’s mouth is so warm that Louis is starting to get dizzy.

They separate only to breathe, lips wet with spit and red from kissing. Louis slides his hand up Harry’s arm and takes his wrist, still holding it as he moves to lay on top of Harry. Harry takes his hand from Louis’s grip and slides both hands down his back, stopping at his waist. His hands are huge, but he holds Louis gently and his thumbs are rubbing soothing circles into Louis’s sides, each careful touch sending electricity through Louis’s veins.

The only sound in the room is their heavy breathing, and the occasional wet sound of their slick mouths sliding together. It’s getting increasingly warm inside the dorm, and Louis wishes he could take off his jumper, but then he would have to move away from Harry and there’s nothing he wants less. So he keeps kissing Harry, kisses him hard and fast and gives it everything he’s got.

Louis doesn’t know how long they’ve been kissing; could be minutes, could be a few hours, all he knows is that it’s way too soon when Liam steps into the dorm. For a second, for one heartbreakingly fleeting second, Louis doesn’t do anything, because he knows Harry hasn’t heard Liam come in. The moment ends, though and Louis opens his eyes and pretends to notice Liam for the first time.

“Oi! Quit snogging, I’d like to get to bed.” Liam snaps. His cheeks are red from embarrassment at having caught them.

With a dramatic sigh, Louis rolls off of Harry. One of Harry’s hands lingers on his waist. “Alright, alright. But you’re not going to bed, not yet.”

“I’m not?” Liam wrinkle his nose, opening the a few drawers to find something, presumably his pyjamas.

“Nope.” Louis plays with Harry’s fingers absentmindedly. “You have to stay up and talk to us as punishment.”

Harry snorts. “I think him catching us is enough punishment, love.”

Liam sits at the foot of the bed, leaning on one of the bed posts. “No, ‘s alright. D’you two want anything from downstairs? There’s a whole bunch of pastries and such.”

“Just summon me a scone, I don’t care.” Louis just shrugs. He tugs on Harry’s shoulder, and the two of them sit up.

Liam pulls his wand from his pocket. “Accio scones!”

Seconds later, at least a dozen scones of various flavors come whizzing into the room, and promptly hit Liam right in the face.

Louis and Harry double over in laughter, so loud that the whole of Gryffindor house hears them. They spend the next hour or so like that, talking and cracking jokes and laughing so hard their sides hurt. When Liam starts getting ready for bed, Louis stands, ready to head back to his own common room and rest.

Harry’s hand wraps around his wrist. “Stay? I don’t-” He clears his throat. “I don’t want you to go just yet.”

“Of course I’ll stay.” Louis whispers, his cheeks heating up.

Toeing off the one shoe he had pulled on, Louis climbs back into Harry’s bed. Harry’s really playing it off in front of Liam: they’d been holding hands or touching the entire time and they’d kissed more times than Louis could count. Draping his arm over Harry’s chest, Louis snuggles in close to him, his head resting on the pillow beside Harry’s. While he’s on his back, Louis is on his side, but Harry’s head is still turned to look at him.

Louis leans forward to give him a peck on the lips. “You smell like sandalwood. You always smell like sandalwood. Why?”

Harry wrinkles his nose. “Dunno. Is that a good smell though?” He whispers.

“Mhm.” Louis nods. “A very good smell. What do I smell like?”

“Hmm…” Harry leans in to smell Louis’s neck. “Like peppermint soap and the ground after it’s just rained. And tea. Always tea.”

Louis smiles, satisfied. He yawns. “‘m tired, ‘s been a long day.”

“Seems like I’ve been awake for ages.” Harry agrees, and he yawns as well.

“Goodnight, Haz.” Louis closes his eyes.

“Night Lou.”

Later, when Louis’s eyes are closed and he’s between sleep and consciousness, he hears Harry say something. It’s quiet, whispered, and Louis is only half-sure that Harry actually said it. He hopes that his cheeks don’t get too red, because then he’ll embarrass both of them. It makes Louis’s insides feel all warm, and he shuffles a little closer to Harry, hoping it seems like he’s still asleep. Harry’s arms tighten around him, and the last thought that passes through Louis’s mind before he falls asleep is that he’ll have to thank Harry tomorrow.

“You’re beautiful when you sleep. And when you're awake.”

\--

When he wakes up, it takes Louis all of two seconds to determine where he is.

Harry’s dorm is empty except for him and Louis, who are curled up together under Harry’s scarlet duvet. Sunlight is streaming through the windows, bathing Louis’s face in warm light. He snuggles in closer to Harry, though he know he’ll have to go soon. Zayn’s going to give him hell for playing up their “relationship” this much. One of Harry’s big hands is splayed over Louis’s chest, as he’s on his side now and Louis is on his back.

After a few minutes, Louis nudges Harry lightly, and he opens his eyes. They’re pale green today, like the polished sea glass that washes up on the beach.

“Morning, Harry.” Louis says quietly, kissing Harry’s nose.

“Top o’ the mornin’, lovely.” Harry mumbles, and Louis blushes. He likes being called lovely.

“‘m heading back to my dorm to wash up and stuff, alright?” Louis raises his eyebrows.

Harry shakes his head. “Stay a little longer, I want to cuddle some more.”

“Alright.” Louis laughs. “I’ll stay.”

He scoots in close to Harry again, smiling to himself when Harry’s arms tighten around him. Harry looks at Louis, at his messy hair and what he’s sure are bloodshot eyes, and smiles right back. “D’you always look this good in the morning?”

Louis leans forward to kiss Harry’s collarbone, exposed from his t-shirt being pulled while he slept. “You’ll just have to find out.”

“Is that a challenge?” Harry smirks, raising an eyebrow.

“It just might be.” Louis giggles.

“Might have to take you up on it.”

Louis yawns. “Mmm, what’re we doing today?”

“I was thinking we could go to Madam Malkin’s and get our robes for the ball?” Harry suggests.

“Good idea.” Louis nods. “D’you have any ideas on what color we should get?”

Harry shrugs. “I was thinking blue? A shade that goes with both of our eyes.”

“Oh?” Louis raises an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. “Something that _matches our eyes_?”

Harry’s cheeks turn pink. “I- yeah, I thought- I know it’s dumb, I-”

“I never said it was dumb, you ninny.” Louis rolls his eyes. “Actually I think it’s quite clever.”

“You think so?” Harry sounds genuinely surprised.

“Mhm.” Louis nods. “It does involve getting out of bed though, so I dunno how long it’s gonna be ‘til we-”

“Shh!” Harry puts a finger over Louis’s lips, and he giggles. “We shall not speak of getting out of bed for at least a hald hour.”

“I like the way you think.”

\--

Actually, it’s an hour until they roll out of bed. Still yawning, they get dressed (Harry lets Louis borrow a thicker jumper, as it’s colder outside today than it was yesterday). They wave at Liam on their way out of the common room, where the two of them receive a few hoots from their friends (“Good shag, Styles?” “Walking alright, Louis?”), and then head down the stairs and outside.

Almost all of the scarlet and gold leaves have fallen from the trees, and only a few stragglers remain, barely tethered to their branches. There’s a crisp chill in the air, a brisk wind that’s no longer an autumn breeze, but the beginning of an icy winter gust. The little shops of Hogsmeade are no longer decorated in with jack o'lanterns and flying paper bats, but sprigs of holly and Christmas tree ornaments.

Madam Malkin’s is bustling with customers, most of them students, all shopping for robes and dresses for all occasions. Employees flit around with floating tape measurers, shouting measurements to the employees in the back room and sizing up customers before they’ve even asked for what they want. A short, plump woman with dark brown hair called Martha sizes them up and hands them each a set of dress robes to try on.

Louis and Harry both already have dress robes themselves, all they really need are bowties. Martha picks out a few colors, and they end up choosing the midnight blue ones. Once they’re all neatly packaged into two small boxes, Harry and Louis send them to their dorms and walk back outside. While they walk, Harry and Louis see quite a few of their friends, most of whom are doing the same as them: getting their dress robes and enjoying what’s left of the sun.

“Give me your hand.” Harry mutters, so quiet only Louis can hear it.

“What for?” Louis asks just as quietly.

“There are people around. Our friends are here.” Harry explains.

Louis rolls his eyes. “So? We’re already on a date, we don’t have to be snogging the whole time, H.”

“Yeah, okay.” Harry nods.

To their left is Madam Puddifoot’s, the site of Harry and Louis’s fictional first date. Little heart-shaped bubbles are floating around the door, and quite a few couples can be seen through the front window. A huge pink and white cake sits on display in the window, along with various pastries and cookies and the like. The scent of fresh donuts being made can be smelled even from outside, and Louis can’t resist dragging Harry inside.

They sit at one of the little tables, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the shop. The backs of the chairs are shaped like hearts and so are the napkins, and it’s all so lovely it makes Louis want to hug someone (Harry) for a very long time. Harry insists that Louis sits at the table and waits while he gets their tea. While Harry talks to the little old lady behind the counter, Louis watches him, taking stock of how bright his eyes are when he smiles, how red his cheeks are from the cold, how his dimples are just as prominent as they were when they were younger.

When Harry comes back, Louis doesn’t say anything, just continues looking at Harry with a small smile.

“What? What?” Harry asks quickly. “Is there something on my face?”

Louis laughs, snapping out of his little daze of Harry-filled wonder. “No, you’re fine. I was just looking.”

“Looking? What were we looking at?” Harry raises an eyebrow.

“Nothing.” Louis shakes his head. “Thank you for the tea. How much was it? I could-”

“Shush. This is a date, remember? One of us is supposed to pay for the other.” Harry grins.

“Oh, yes. The site of our first date, don’t you remember?” Louis asks dramatically, grabbing for Harry’s hands. “You wouldn’t stop saying I was the most attractive man you’d ever seen, how even all sweaty after quidditch practice I was just _so_ -”

“Stop that! You’re yelling.” Harry giggles, his cheeks turning pink.

“I was only declaring my love, Harry, calm down. I wanted to assert my dominance over any threats.” Louis bares his teeth, looking around the shop with narrowed eyes.

“Oh yeah. Lots of threats ‘round here.” Harry looks around, and then back at Louis.

Louis looks around too. The only other people in the shop are couples- two girls laughing as they break a cookie in half, a girl and a boy who are grinning at each other over their cups of tea, and a boy and girl who are holding hands across the table, staring at each other in quite a grossly-in-love fashion.

“They’re everywhere.” Louis whispers.

Harry bursts out laughing, a loud, strangely high-pitched sort of yell that has him clapping his hands over his mouth and looking at Louis in horror. Breaking character completely, Louis laughs too. He loves when Harry laughs like that, and he doesn’t get to hear it often, because Harry always tries to repress it. But Louis thinks it’s cute, and if him being weirdly possessive of Harry is what it takes to hear that laugh, well then, that’s what he has to do.

“I am so sorry,” Harry giggles. “I always try not to laugh like that, and-”

Louis rolls his eyes dramatically, and Harry frowns. Picking up his teacup and saucer, Louis takes a sip, and is delighted to find that it’s exactly how he likes it: strong with no sugar. It makes him feel very warm inside to know that Harry’s got his tea order memorized. Harry takes a sip of his tea as well, and they stare at each other, both unwilling to be the first to put their tea down.

They end up draining their teacups, laughing once more when they finally deposit them on the table. After one more cup of tea each, they head back to the castle, where Harry and Louis split up. Harry says he has to go and try to get some homework done, and Louis says the same, though he has every intention of getting the answers from Perrie tomorrow at breakfast.

Louis finds Zayn on the quad, where he’s lounging in the grass with a book floating above his chest. The pages turn when Zayn flicks his hand, and he folds one of the corners and shuts the book when he sees Louis. A little jar filled with blue fire is resting by his side. Plopping down in the grass, Louis gives a little wave.

“Hey, Zee. How are we on this horribly cold day?” Louis asks, tugging the sleeves of his (Harry’s) jumper over his hands.

Zayn holds up the little jar of blue fire. “Quite cozy, actually. These things are brilliant. Here, look.”

Louis reaches for the little jar, and he’s warmed up before he even comes close to touching it. Heat spreads through his whole body, from the tips of his fingers and toes to the insides of his elbows and knees. “That… is _magical_. What is that?”

“Liam taught it to me. ‘s waterproof, too, so you can use it without a jer even when it’s raining.” Zayn grins.

“Oh, _Liam_ taught it to you.” Louis rolls his eyes. “That’s why you’re holding it so delicately.”

Zayn’s jaw drops open, and he examines the way he’s holding the jar. “This is not _delicate_ , it’s- shut up.”

“Mhm. Mmmmmmhm.” Louis nods.

“Oh, why don’t you go and make out with your ‘boyfriend’?” Zayn uses air-quotes, and Louis smacks his hands.

“Okay, Zee, instead of blowing my cover why don’t you go and blow Liam, you absolute bastard?” Louis hisses.

Zayn’s face grows very red. “Why don’t we both shut the hell up and go and get lunch?”

“Fine.” Louis stands. “Good plan.”

Zayn stands too, sending the jar of fire and his book back to his dorm with a wordless spell. Once inside the corridor it becomes noticeably warmer; Louis figures it’s another charm on the castle. The two of them make their way to the Great Hall.

“So, how d’you think I’m doing with Harry?” Louis asks, genuinely curious. “‘re we pulling it off?”

Zayn smirks. “Oh, you two are doing very good.”

“Just good?”

“A little _too_ good, if you ask me.” Zayn’s smirk has turned into an evil grin. “Like maybe you don’t have to fake it anymore.”

“I-” Louis's jaw drops. “I _absolutely_ have to fake it, I do not feel- I am _insulted_ that you would-”

Zayn nods, laughing. “Mhm. Keep telling yourself that, Lou.”

“You’re a piece of shit.” Louis says as they enter the Great Hall.

They take a seat at one of the tables, near Ed, Calum, and Cara, who are talking and laughing.

“I’m just saying, though, you guys are kinda perfect for each other.” Zayn says, shrugging. He looks off towards one of the other tables, where Liam is talking to Andy, smiling with that smile that makes his eyes crinkle at the corner that Louis knows Zayn loves.

“Zayn if you say one more word I’m honestly going to go over to Liam and tell him you’ve been in love with him for the better part of seven years.” Louis snaps.

Zayn looks back at Louis. “I’ll kill you. I’ll actually kill you.”

“Alright, alright, then why don’t we not poke fun at each other’s relationships, whether real or fake, yeah?” Louis raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah, fine.”

Louis looks to his left to see Niall storming towards them, a murderous look in his bright blue eyes. He sits down at the table, seething. “I’ve just been on the staircases.”

“Wow, Niall. Impressive.”

“For _fifteen fuckin’ minutes_!” Niall hisses. “I coulda’ been to Ireland and back by the time it got to the fuckin’ platform!”

“Why… why did it take so long?” Zayn asks slowly.

“Fuck if I know! All I know is I was sittin’ there, yellin’ my fuckin’ head off cause I knew today was a fish ‘n chips day ‘n I didn’t want to miss out.” Niall frowns.

Louis grabs a floating basket of fish and chips from the air above them and hands it to Niall. “Here you go, Ni.”

“Thanks, Louis.” Niall sighs, deflating like a balloon. “What’re you two up to?”

“Just discussing the ball.” Louis lies. “Have you got a date yet?”

Niall shakes his head slowly, like he’s thinking. Then, he calls over to someone at the table next to them. “Hey, Babs! Barbara!”

Barbara Palvin, a Hufflepuff who is arguably one of the most beautiful girls in the school (some people say she’s part Veela), turns around. “Niall? What d’you want?” She calls.

“Would you like to go to the ball with me?” Niall yells. Quite a few people are watching the exchange.

One of Barbara’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows raises. “Alright, yeah. Sure, Niall, I’ll go to the ball with you.”

“Okay! Thanks!” Niall calls, going back to his fish and chips.

Louis nods. “Impressive.”

“Who ‘re you going with, Zee?” Niall asks with his mouth full of chips.

“Um- I- Liam asked me the other day.” Zayn says, flushing pink.

“Mhm.” Louis nods, looking at Niall for his reaction.

Niall laughs at Louis, and then turns back to Zayn. “Well, it’s about damn time.”

“Zayn and Liam.” Louis says, winking at Zayn. “Liam and Zayn.”

“Oh, you’re one to talk, dating Harry Styles.” Niall laughs.

“We’re no-... Yes. We’re dating.” Louis says slowly. Niall just looks confused, and Zayn is immersed in fits of laughter.

“Ooookay.” Niall nods. “Did you get your dress robes yet?”

“Yeah, we got dark blue bowties, and we’ve each already got traditional robes, so.” Louis explains.

“Have you got them at school already? Christ, you’re prepared.” Zayn says, impressed.

Louis stops with a chip halfway into his mouth. “Have either of you got a pen and paper?”

“And an owl.” Niall snorts.

“That too.” Louis nods, looking around.

Zayn pulls a pen and a sheet of parchment from his bag and hands it to Louis. “Here. Dunno where Gandalf is though, we’ll have to go and find him.”

“I’m sure we can find plenty of other ancient wizards with long white beards, Zayn.” Louis rolls his eyes as he starts his letter to his mum.

Niall and Zayn burst out laughing, and it takes a moment for Zayn to calm down enough that he can speak. “Gandalf’s my owl, you idiot!”

“Your- Gandalf- I don’t remember you getting an owl, when did you get an owl?” Louis asks quickly, scribbling down words just as fast.

“Last week.”

“At the post office, don’t you remember?” Niall raises an eyebrow.

“If I remembered, do you think I’d be asking all these questions?” Louis asks, annoyed.

Niall pauses. “No, I s’pose not.” He leans in to look at Louis’s letter. “How can she read your writing? Christ, Lou, that’s why you get shit grades on all your essays!”

“Actually I get good grades on my essays, it’s the class participation that’s not so good.” Louis laughs. “Cause I’m sleeping.”

“‘re you done yet?” Zayn asks impatiently.

“I am, actually.” Louis says as he signs his name with a few hearts. “I don’t have an envelope though-”

Zayn waves his hand, and the parchment floats into the air and then folds itself into an envelope. “There.”

“Let’s go, I’ve got to talk to Hagrid about a grade.” Niall says, standing.

“Alright, yeah.” Louis stands, plucking the floating parchment from the air and then placing it carefully in his pocket.

The three of them head outside, where they make their way toward the owlery and Hagrid’s hut. The wind has picked up now, making the leaves swirl around and making the trees of the Dark Forest sway. While Zayn and Louis make their way up the endless stairs of the owlery, Niall keeps walking to Hagrid’s, and they agree to meet in the middle in fifteen minutes. The screeching of owls intensifies as they near the top of the tower, so loud that it begins to give Louis a headache.

At the top of the stairs, they find Harry, who is about to descend said stairs. “Oh, hey, guys.” He leans forward and pecks Louis on the lips. “‘lo, darling.”

Louis looks over at Zayn, who is making a disgusted face.

“Harry,” Louis giggles. “Zayn knows. He’s the only one who knows.”

“Oh.” Harry’s cheeks turn pink. “Whoops.”

“You two are gross.” Zayn rolls his eyes.

“What were you sending?” Louis asks curiously as the three of them go inside.

The Owlery is a circular stone room, with loads of arched windows without glass and a set of stairs that continues to the very top of the tower. Owls of all shapes and sizes are perched on every surface, and every surface is covered in straw and owl droppings. Needless to say, it smells awful in there.

“I was asking my mum to send me my dress robes.” Harry chuckles. “I completely forgot them.”

Louis’s jaw drops, and he turn around to face Harry. “That’s a lie.”

“What d'you mean?” Harry asks quickly.

“That’s what _my_ letter says!” Louis laughs.

Zayn groans. “Oh, shut up and send your letter.”

“Well, Zee, I dunno where your ‘Gandalf’ is, so.” Louis rolls his eyes.

“Gandalf?” Harry asks.

“My owl, and he’s right there.” Louis looks where Zayn’s pointing just as a large, white and brown Barred Owl with big, inky black eyes and soft-looking feathers takes flight, landing on Zayn’s outstretched hand.

Louis steps towards Zayn and his owl. “Okay then.” He grabs his letter from his pocket and holds it out towards Gandalf, who grabs it in his beak.

“Off you go.” Zayn shakes his arm, and Gandalf takes off, out one of the windows.

It starts raining then, loud drops that pitter-patter on the roof of the tower. Simultaneously, all three boys start yelling about Niall. They run out of the owlery and down the stairs (Harry trips twice and gets his bum all wet), where they find Niall already running towards them. In a full out sprint, the four boys run into the castle and up to Zayn’s common room, where Cara, Jesy, Karlie, and a few other friends are already spread out on the couches, watching a quidditch match.

Zayn casts a charm on them to dry their clothes, and they settle on the couches and chairs as well.

“Hey, where’s Liam?” Cara asks.

“Oh yeah…” Louis frowns, trying to think of where Liam might be.

“I got it.” Niall mutters, pulling out his wand. “Expecto Patronum!” He casts, and a silvery little terrier appears. “Liam, buddy, come down to Zayn’s! Everybody’s here watchin’ the match, get over here!” The little dog runs off through one of the walls, and everyone picks their conversations up again.

“Somebody get food!” One of the girls yells. Louis is pretty sure it’s Perrie.

Louis looks over at Niall, only to find him already looking at Louis with a wild grin. He raises an eyebrow to check that they’re thinking the same thing, and laughs when Niall gives a determined nod. The two of them stand, ignoring the questions of their friends as they head for the door. The kitchens are right near the Hufflepuff Basements, and though Louis’s been down there loads of times, Niall leads, as he knows exactly where the door to the kitchen is.

“That’s Harry’s jumper, isn’t it?” Niall asks, smirking.

Louis looks down at the jumper he’s wearing. “It might be.”

“Mhm.” Niall rolls his eyes.

“How’s Babs? ‘ve you two bought a home yet? I heard you were looking to rent, I know the Shrieking Shack’s got- OW! You hexed me!” Louis looks at his side, where a large hole is missing from both his jumper and his t-shirt. The skin underneath isn’t injured, just a little red, but it’s covered in soot from whatever hex Niall cast.

“You- totally- deserved- it.” Niall says, still laughing hysterically.

Frowning, Louis pulls out his wand and casts reparo without speaking the incantation. Wordless spells have never been his strong suit, but simpler charms are easier for him to cast than something like a patronus.

“That was not very nice, Niall.” Louis pouts. “The house-elves would be ashamed.”

“No they wouldn’t.” Niall shakes his head, a smile already creeping onto his face. “They _loooove_ us.”

It’s become a bit of a joke between them, the house-elves in the kitchen. Every time they visit, the elves say how much they _love_ to see the two of them. But it’s never just how they love to see the two of them. It’s how they _love_ to see the two of them. The house-elves are always so excited, so whenever Niall or Louis makes that joke, it always makes the other smile.

The painting of the bowl of fruit is right next to a portrait of a giraffe. Louis reaches forward to tickle the pear in the painting. It giggles and squirms, and then turns into a pear-shaped door handle. When it opens, the smell of all kinds of food drifts out, and Louis wouldn’t be able to stop himself from going inside if he tried. The surprised squeals of quite a few house-elves are heard as he and Niall step inside, and then they turn to cries of joy as they get a glimpse of their visitors.

The house elves _love_ Louis and Niall.

“Master Louis! Master Niall!” They cry, giving them each hugs and stuffing their mouths with pastries while they wrap their bony limbs around Niall and Louis’s.

“What a _joy_ it is to see you!”

“We _love_ it when you visit us!”

“A _wonderful_ surprise!”

Louis and Niall bask in the house-elves’ hugs and compliments for a few minutes, and then ask if they could whip up some pastries for them to watch during the match. As usual, the house-elves respond enthusiastically, giving them platters and platters of sweet pastries that float around, following Louis and Niall as they walk through the kitchens. When they’ve got enough food to feed a small army, Louis and Niall give the house-elves their thanks and then head back to Zayn’s dorm room.

When they get back to the dorm, the Falmouth Falcons are beating Lancashire 130-40. Their friends are _livid_ , and so are they once they explain the situation. Apparently the ref’s been payed off, as the ancient-looking man refuses to call any of the cobbing going on. The Falcons’ repeated and flagrant use of elbows continue to go “unseen” by the referee, and both the team and the fans are getting angry.

“This is awful!” Louis says as he flops onto the couch with Harry by his side. There’s half of a cauldron cake in his hand, and the other half is shoved into Harry’s mouth.

“Jade’s on the balcony, she got too heated to watch.” Liam laughs, looking outside.

Louis looks over. True to his word, Jade is outside, sitting with her back against the window. Jesy is out there with her, and they’re clearly laughing about something. He doesn’t blame her- this match is making him mad, and he’s only been watching for like three minutes.

Harry nudges Louis with his elbow. Louis looks over, and Harry is looking at his cauldron cake with a shy smile. “Do you want it?” He asks slowly.

“Mhm.” Harry nods just as slow, giving him puppy eyes.

Laughing, Louis hands him the cauldron cake. “Here, you big oaf.”

“Fank yoo wove.” Harry mutters, already shoving the cauldron cake into his mouth.

Leaning in, Harry puckers his lips, asking Louis for a kiss. Louis leans back, laughing, and ends up in Zayn’s lap. Zayn pushes him off, and he ends up getting a wet kiss smacked onto his cheek.

“Oh, ew!” Louis squeaks, rubbing it off on his sleeve. “You’re gross!” He whacks Harry’s shoulder.

Harry swallows, and looks at Louis with a smirk. “Do that again, I wasn’t flexing.”

“You are _distracting_ me.” Louis pushes Harry’s head away, turning back to the telly.

“Bloody fucking _hell_ , this isn’t fair! Locke’s been elbowing the fuck out of O’Donnel this whole time!” Niall yells.

Perrie gasps. “She’s gonna fall off her broom!”

“No she’s not, shut up.” Cara rolls her eyes. Cara's a Falcons fan.

“Shut up, Cara!” Everyone yells.

“Traitor.” Louis mutters, sinking deeper into Harry’s side.

Harry pulls him close, kissing the back of his head. It’s strangely normal, to be sat like this with Harry, normal in a way he wouldn’t have ever expected. The angrier they get about the game, the closer they move to each other, like magnets. By some miracle, in the second hour of the game, Nina Mavers, Lancashire’s seeker, catches the snitch and makes the score 310-270.

The sounds of rejoice can be heard throughout the whole castle- everyone’s rooting for Lancashire to make it to the championship. Louis and his friends run out to the balcony and start screaming their rejoices to the heavens, delighted when other students respond to their cheers. When they’re done celebrating, Louis and his Slytherin friends head back to their dorm.

When they get back, they all change into pyjamas and head to bed, all of them dreading classes.

\--

The next week passes in a blur of quidditch practice and _Harry_ , everywhere. Every moment Louis isn’t practicing, he’s with Harry.

And he enjoys his time with Harry a lot more than he would’ve expected.

\--

On Wednesday, night (well, technically Thursday morning) Louis is woken at an ungodly hour by the patronus of his Astronomy professor, telling him it’s time to head to their lesson in the Astronomy Tower. With quite a few complaints (what’s so special about an eclipse anyway?), Louis and his friends climb out of bed and pull on shoes and jumpers. In the corridor, a few seventh-years are already headed towards the tower, all in various stages of fatigue.

They find Harry on the staircases, trudging up the steps with Liam and Andy. It takes a bit of negotiating, but Louis convinces Harry to give him a piggyback ride to the tower. With his chin tucked over Harry’s shoulder, and his arms wrapped loosely around his neck, Louis drifts in and out of consciousness. He’s shocked awake by the cold as they leave the warmth of the tower and head outside, though.

Liam, bless him, teaches them the spell to conjure the blue fire, and he’s even brought along a few jars for them to use. Once they’ve surrounded themselves in glowing blue jars, Louis and Harry sit on one of the crates that holds the telescopes and huddle together for warmth (totally not because they want to be closer, that’s _preposterous_ ). Louis doesn’t really watch the eclipse, and chooses to watch its reflection in Harry’s eyes instead.

He falls asleep on Harry’s shoulder fifteen minutes into the lesson after the eclipse.

Once again, Louis wakes up in the arms of Harry Styles.

\--

On Friday afternoon, Louis finds himself sitting across from Harry during study hall.

Harry’s hair continues to fall into his face while he writes, and eventually he just leaves it, letting it flop into his eyes and only brushing it out of the way when he absolutely can’t see. His tie is loosened, lazily hanging around his collar, his robe is gone, and the sleeves of his sweater and button-down are rolled up. Though he’s got on two sets of sleeves, it’s not hard to see the lines of his muscles, which are big and toned from quidditch. While his right hand scribbles words onto a roll of parchment, his left hand taps away on the table, tracing patterns and drumming beats.

Maybe Louis has been looking at this whole “dating” thing the wrong way. It wouldn’t be so bad to date Harry. Captain of the quidditch team, one of the most popular guys in school, adored by all the teachers, and like. Really, _really_ handsome. He’s kind, and honest, and he’d be a lovely boyfriend.

Hmm.

Maybe if he’s extra forward, Harry will get the message.

So Louis kicks Harry lightly under the table. When Harry looks up, Louis blows him an overdramatic kiss. Harry catches it and covers his mouth like he’s embarrassed, and then goes back to his work. Louis groans, and Harry looks up again.

“Something wrong?” Harry raises an eyebrow, sounding genuinely concerned.

Louis shakes his head. “Just a bit nervous for the game tonight, I suppose.” He lies. _I want you to date me_ , he thinks. _Actually date me_. 

“Why? You’re gonna squash Ravenclaw.” Harry says kindly, and then smirks. “And then we’re gonna squash you. At the championship.”

“Is that so?” Louis raises his eyebrows.

Harry nods. “Mhm. Seriously though, you’re gonna do great.”

“Thanks, H.” Louis can feel his cheeks heating up, so he goes back to his Astronomy essay.

Once classes for the day are over, Louis heads to his dorm and takes a nap before his match. Calum and Stan wake him up, and the three of them get ready, dressing in extra warm layers, as it’s raining.

When they get outside, Louis sees that it’s not just raining. It’s pouring. It’s like a monsoon out there. The sun’s already gone down, the path to the locker rooms lit by only their wands. Unlike how Louis had expected, the atmosphere inside the locker room is lighthearted and excited, rather than nervous and tense.

As Louis pulls on his boots, Harry comes in, wearing a scarlet rain jacket and holding a tiny green and silver Slytherin flag. The hood of his jacket is down, and his hair is in disarray from the wind, stuck to his face with rain water and sticking out in a million different directions. Louis doesn’t notice until the team starts aww-ing at them.

“Hey, guys!” Harry says with a bright smile.

“Come to see your boy, Styles?” Calum snickers.

“Oh shut up.” Louis says, standing. “Hello, love.” He says once he reaches Harry.

“How d’you feel?” Harry asks.

Louis cocks his head, considering. “Good, yeah. I feel good.”

“Yeah?” Harry smiles. “That’s good, babe.”

“‘m still shaking, I always end up shaking.” Louis says, holding up a gloved hand to inspect it.

“Don’t worry, alright?” Harry takes his trembling hand and puts it back at his side. “You’re gonna do great.”

“You think so?” Louis asks.

“Mhm.” Harry nods.

He leans forward, and his lips meet Louis’s in a meaningful but chaste kiss, as everyone is still there. The team coos, and Harry and Louis each pull back, blushing. “Um…” Louis’s cheeks feel like they’re on fire.

“I’ll just… go.” Harry makes a face, walking backwards towards the door. “So… kick some arse out there. Good luck!”

When he’s gone, the team starts teasing Louis, but then the five-minute bell chimes, and Louis starts his pep talk. The bell chimes again soon after, and Louis and his team start outside. It’s still pouring outside, and it’s quite cold out there, too. Louis isn’t cold though- he’s still quite warm inside from his and Harry’s embrace. The pitch is bright, lit up through the darkness of the night.

The crowd cheers as they take the pitch, shortly after Ravenclaw’s already taken their positions. Louis heads for the middle of the pitch, where he shakes hands with the Ravenclaw captain, Olly Murs, a beater. Madam Hooch blows her whistle, and they mount their brooms and rise into the air. At the next whistle, all four of the balls rise as well, all but one starting to zoom around of their own accord.

Louis goes for the quaffle right away, ramming into Cara to get it. It’s a little hard to get a hand on the ball at first, as it’s raining and his hands are slippery and cold, but Louis plucks it from the air and zooms towards the hoops. The keeper, Danny Riach, is able to block his shot, but Calum catches it after and throws it to Jade. She hurls it at the leftmost goal post and scores.

The game is long, and it’s cold outside, but eventually Perrie catches the snitch, and they beat Ravenclaw 290-120. Louis accepts his congratulations, and then finds his friends at the entrance to the field, all holding umbrellas. Harry isn’t there though, lost in the sea of spectators. He finds Liam first; he pulls Louis into a big hug and plants a kiss on the top of his wet head. After Liam congratulates Louis he moves on, asking around for Harry. A few people ask him to go get drinks, and Louis kindly turns them down.

Harry is by the locker rooms, leaning against the wall of the structure with an umbrella floating over him. A huge smile spreads over his face when he sees Louis, and Louis can’t help a smile from breaking over his face as well. They share another big dramatic kiss, with Louis jumping into Harry’s arms and kissing him long and hard and genuinely. Harry tastes like rain and cinnamon, and Louis wants to kiss him until he forgets his own name.

“There’s my fantastic chaser!” Harry says brightly, kissing Louis’s forehead, and then his nose, and then his lips. “You did brilliantly.”

“You’re- freezing-” Louis’s teeth are chattering, his hands still shaking, but from the cold.

Harry puts him down gently, giving him a concerned look. “‘re you alright? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“I’m _cold_ , you idiot, let’s get inside.” Louis snaps.

“Alright, alright.” Harry laughs. “C’mon, let’s tell somebody where we’re going, at least.”

“Where are we going, exactly?” Louis asks, shivering as more rain drips down his back.

“To warm up,” Harry says. “and to wash up.”

Louis is too cold to process what that means, so he doesn’t dwell on it for long. They find Liam in the same spot as before, and tell him that they’re headed to wash up and then turn in early. Following the throng of students and staff, Louis and Harry head inside the castle, which is noticeably warmer than outside. They end up on the 5th floor, outside of a door made of stained glass.

“Squeaky clean.” Harry says, and the door swings open.

Inside, is a bathroom. A _huge_ bathroom. On one side of the room, there are stalls and sinks. On the other side of the room is a large bath, as big as a swimming pool. There’s at least a hundred different golden taps surrounding the whole tub, each set with a different colored jewel. When they get inside, Harry turns on a few of the taps, and Louis starts pulling off his soaked quidditch gear.

“Make sure there’s not too many bubbles,” Louis sings. “I hate when that happens.”

Harry laughs, pulling off his rain jacket and t-shirt. “Mhm. C’mon, get this off. We need to practice.”

Louis raises an eyebrow. “Oh, that’s what we’re doing?”

“Of course. We’ve got to practice so it looks realistic, y’know?” There’s a smirk on Harry’s face.

As Louis pulls his shirt off, he finally gets a good look at Harry’s naked chest. He’s toned and defined from quidditch, all lean muscle and suddenly Louis is very turned on. He catches Harry looking at him too, and gives him a wink as he pulls his trousers off. When they’re each left in just boxers, Harry approaches Louis, his hands going to his waist.

“Hmm, should we kiss like this?” Harry’s lips meet Louis and then he pulls away.

“No,” Louis breathes. “Definitely not.”

Harry smirks. “Like this, then?”

Harry kisses Louis harder this time, their tongues sliding together with spit and rain and sweat. The sound of the bath filling with water mingles with the sound of heavy breaths and the quiet sounds of their mouths as they kiss.

“We have to-” Louis breaks off, breathing deeply against Harry’s lips. “I smell awful- in the tub, let’s go.”

In response, Harry pulls away from Louis and pulls off his boxers, and then sprints for the pool-like tub and jumps in. A million pink bubbles float into the air, and Harry’s head pops above the water, grinning wildly at Louis. Louis heads for the tub too, walking over at a leisurely pace to coax a reaction out of Harry. Harry’s not looking though, just floating on his back amidst the bubbles. Rolling his eyes, Louis pulls his boxer briefs off and then tosses them towards the pile of their clothes before he jumps in.

The two of them wash up, with a lot more “practicing” than necessary, and then make their way back to Harry’s dorm in robes they’d found on the counter. While they get dressed, they talk about the dance with Liam and Ed (Ed asked Athina Andrelos, a Hufflepuff, at the game). It’s tomorrow, and all four of them are really excited. Louis’s robes are hung from his four-poster in his own dorms, and Harry’s are stowed away in the closet, but Louis can see his dress shoes sticking out of his trunk.

It’s late by the time they fall asleep, wrapped up in each other.

\--

Harry is gone when Louis wakes up, but there’s a note on his pillow that says he’s out for a run by the lake, so he rolls over and goes back to sleep.

When he wakes up again, Harry is there in a grey long-sleeved shirt and white shorts, with his hair pulled back with a headband and cheeks flushed from his run. He’s gathering clothes, and holding a water bottle between his teeth. Louis rolls on his back, towards where Harry is putting on a pair of flip-flops. As he’s about to say hello, Harry pulls off his shirt, and Louis relishes in the sight of his toned torso, which is shiny with sweat.

“Merlin’s pants,” Louis whistles. “what a view.”

Harry looks over at Louis, grinning when he sees what Louis is sure is an astonishing case of bedhead. “Good morning, lovely. I was just headed to the Prefects’ bathroom to wash up. I’d ask you to join me, but we should probably go our separate ways. It’s bad luck to see each other before the ball.”

“You don’t actually believe that.” Louis snorts.

“Well…” Harry shrugs.

“Oh, no, I get it.” Louis says, mocking that he’s been offended. “I’ll just go, since you _clearly_ want me out of here.”

Harry’s roommates snicker, and Harry laughs brightly, bending over to give Louis a quick kiss. “Yep. That’s exactly it.”

Louis sits up, grabbing one of Harry’s jumpers from off the floor. “Then I’m taking this as hostage. Mostly cause I don’t want to be cold on the way to the dungeons.”

“Can I walk you down there?” Harry asks, smiling at Louis as he climbs out of bed.

“You can walk me to the fifth floor, and then we’ll go our separate ways, yes.” Louis nods.

“Alright, alright. You might need some shoes, though.” Harry looks at Louis’s bare feet.

“Oh, be quiet, you. I’ll be fine.” Louis says, avoiding eye contact with Harry as he slips on a pair of Harry’s Vans. “Now let’s go.”

They make their way through the common room, and down to the fifth floor, where, Harry pulls Louis into a bear hug. “Oh, yeah. Mhm.” He says, rubbing Louis’s back. “What a great hug.”

“Go take your shower, you smelly brute.” Louis rolls his eyes, but he’s really basking in Harry’s warm embrace.

“I will, and I am not _smelly_.” Harry says indignantly.

“You smell worse than the flobberworms, now get out of here.” Louis groans, pushing Harry away.

“Not without a kiss!” Harry sings, planting a kiss on Louis’s lips.

Louis rolls his eyes as he watches Harry saunter off towards the bathroom. On his way to the dungeons, Louis finds Niall, who’s on his way to Zayn’s from the Great Hall. There’s a piece of toast in his hand, which Louis doesn’t hesitate to take and shove into his mouth. The two of them walk to the Head Boy and Girl Common room, where they find Zayn reading while a floating razor shaves his face.

The three of them relax until it’s time to get ready, spread over the couches and chairs, watching quidditch matches and muggle movies (by recommendation of Zayn) on the telly. When it’s an hour before the ball, Louis and Niall summon their dress robes and everything else they need and get ready in there.

Before he puts on the black dinner jacket, Louis stands in front of the huge mirror in Zayn’s bathroom, styling his hair into a quiff. When it’s done, Louis does a dramatic walk into the common room, where Zayn and Niall are fixing each other’s bowties, and Cara, Jesy, and a few friends are fixing their shoes and zipping up dresses.

Cara looks gorgeous in a long, flowy dress that goes from dark purple to white, her hair in loose curls that fall to her shoulders. Jesy looks amazing too, in a black dress with triangles cut out of the sides. All of the girls look amazing, and Louis makes sure to take pictures with everyone. Once Jade ties his bowtie, Louis is totally ready, but he needs someone else’s opinion.

“Oh, shut up, you know you look amazing.” Zayn rolls his eyes as he fixes his hair.

The whole lot of them make their way down to the staircase outside of the Great Hall, where students are taking pictures and looking for their dates. He finds Harry at the top of the stairs, looking like a million galleons in his black dinner jacket, white shirt, and matching dark blue bowtie. When Louis catches his eye, Harry starts down the stairs, his grin intensifying as he nears Louis. There are butterflies flitting around in Louis’s stomach, and they’re making him nervous, though he has no need to be. It’s just Harry.

“You look,” Harry’s arms wrap around Louis’s waist and pull him close. “Louis, you look amazing.”

“I could say the same for you, Curly. Or maybe Styles is better fitting, since, y’know. You’re so _stylish_.”

“You’re such a nerd!” Harry laughs, giving Louis a peck on the lips.

Louis pulls out of Harry’s arms and leads him over to their group of friends. Music is already pumping out from the Great Hall, and Louis finds himself even more excited to get in there than before. Liam and Zayn are grinning stupidly at each other, both of them blushing like silly third years. Zayn’s suit is dark blue, and so is Liam’s, and they’ve each got on matching black shirts and blue and gold bowties. Niall has found Barbara, who looks _stunning_ in a long, flowy dress that starts as black and then fades to burgundy at the bottom. There are tiny flowers of the same deep red braided into her hair, which is pulled into an elaborate updo. The two of them look great.

There’s a table set up outside the doors into the Great Hall, where Professor Hughton is checking everyone’s name to make sure they’re not younger than fourth year. The Great Hall has been completely transformed; silvery lights hang from the walls like glowing icicles, tables with shimmery silver tablecloths are pushed to the side, and a dancefloor is in front of the platform where the teachers’ table is, where the DJ has set up her huge speakers and laptop.

The song changes as they step inside, to a song Louis recognizes as a muggle song that Zayn likes. Hurriedly, Louis heads over to a table to claim it as their own. A little card sits on the table, next to a marker. Grabbing the marker, Louis writes “LOUIS TOMLINSON & COMPANY” on the card, and then drags Harry over to the dancefloor. Both of them start dancing right away, Harry’s hands going to Louis’s hips. Louis turns so his back is to Harry, shaking his bum at him a bit.

“Bloody hell, Lou.” Zayn laughs. He and Liam are dancing next to them. “Really going for it, aren’t we?”

“I’m nothing if not thorough!” Louis calls, laughing.

Zayn smirks, and then Harry’s lips are at his ear. “ _I_ think you’re doing brilliantly, if I do say so myself.”

“Mm, I’ll take that as a compliment, _babe_.” He looks back at Harry, winking.

“People are looking,” Harry murmurs.

“Let ‘em. We look great.” Louis shrugs, flashing a wink at Stan, who’s watching them with his eyebrows raised.

A few more songs play, and then McGonagall tells them it’s time to eat, so they head to their table. Niall, Barbara, Liam, Zayn, Ed, and Athina are already there, so Louis and Harry slide into their seats just as the first course appears on their plates. They eat their way through four courses, each of which are remarkably light, so they’ve no problem getting back on the dancefloor.

The next song is a slow dance, so Louis wraps his arms around Harry’s neck and pulls him close, resting his head on his shoulder. Harry’s arms slide around Louis’s waist, warm and strong.

“You smell amazing.” Louis murmurs in his ear.

“So do you, I can’t get enough of you.” Harry says back.

Louis feels his cheeks heat up, so he lays his head on Harry’s shoulder again. Harry’s fingers begin tracing patterns on his back, and Louis feels a pair of lips on his head. The butterflies in Louis’s stomach intensify a bit, but not uncomfortably so. He likes that Harry makes him a bit nervous. In a good way. Greg James catches his eye and smiles as he makes his way over to them with his date (a Gryffindor who Louis doesn’t recognize).

“Hey, Lou.” Greg says kindly. Harry’s arms tighten around him.

“‘lo, Gregory. How are we tonight?” Louis asks.

“Good, yeah. I just wanted to see that you two’re really cute together, and I’m glad you’re with someone who makes you so happy, Louis.” Greg smiles at them and then disappears into the crowd with his date.

Louis smiles. “That was nice of him.”

“Oh, yes. Very kind.” Harry nods, his hands guiding Louis to turn his head and look at him.

Harry kisses him hard as the song ends, so hard it surprises him enough to stand on the dancefloor a moment even after Harry goes off to get drinks. Once he’s snapped out of his daze, Louis finds Zayn talking to Perrie, and talks with them for a few minutes. Perrie wanders off as Jade asks her to dance, but Louis and Zayn stay there.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” Zayn smirks, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s gone to get us drinks.” Louis rolls his eyes. “And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Regardless, he’s totally gone for you.” Zayn says.

Louis shakes his head. “He is not.”

“He absolutely is! You shoulda seen his face when you were slow dancing. He’s over the moon for you. Totally gone.” Zayn grins.

“No he’s not, Zayn, shut _up_.” Louis groans. “Go away, he’s coming back soon.”

“I’m not going to go away, he’s with _my_ date.” Zayn shoves Louis’s shoulder.

“Ah, yes, Liam. Your _date_.” Louis grins. “Who you’re _dating_.”

Zayn shakes his head. “Not dating.”

“You’re totally dating! You’ve been to Madam Puddifoot’s twice this _week_!” Louis laughs.

“Okay! We might be dating.” Zayn admits. “But we haven’t… like, kissed or anything yet.”

“Kisses don’t mean you’re dating, Zee. I kiss Harry all the time, and we’re not dating.” Louis shrugs with one shoulder.

Zayn looks at Louis pointedly. “Liam says he caught you two snogging in his dorm. _Alone_. With _no one else there_. _And_ you’ve been sleeping in his dorm.”

“So?” Louis asks quickly. “We’re not- we were just practicing, it’s not like-”

“Lou!”

Louis turns. Harry and Liam are walking towards them, each holding a drink with two straws. They give them to Louis and Zayn, who down them quickly and then head back to the dancefloor.

It’s a slow song again (Frank Sinatra- Louis knows because Zayn’s mum adores him), but this time, instead of resting his head on Harry’s shoulder, Louis chooses to face Harry. Harry smiles at him, leaning forward to kiss his nose. It makes Louis blush, and the butterflies in his stomach start flitting around again. Harry smells like cinnamon and cologne, so good it’s making Louis a little lightheaded.

As the song ends, Harry keeps his arms around Louis, and Louis looks at him curiously. It’s another slow song, so they don’t look out of place as they keep swaying back and forth.

“Something wrong, love?” Louis asks.

“I was just wondering… like… are we gonna have to like, ‘break up’ after tonight?” Harry stumbles over his words.

Louis cocks his head, suddenly filled with courage. “Mmm, not yet, I don’t think so.”

“Uh… why not?”

“Because I think I like you, Harry Styles. Like, genuinely like you.”

Harry’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. “You’re serious?”

“As serious as a heart attack, yeah.”

And then Harry’s lips are on Louis’s, warm and soft and insistent. It’s like they’ve been kissing this whole time, but it feels different, somehow, slower, less for others to see and more for themselves to enjoy. Louis relishes in the feel of Harry’s huge hands on him, one on his cheek and one on his, of his hair tickling the sides of his face and the lovely smell of the cinnamon gum he always chews. One of their friends yells at them to quit snogging, so they do, and grin stupidly at each other as they dance.

“Did you notice I stopped acting?” Harry asks.

“Honestly? Not really. Zayn told me.” Louis shrugs. “I just didn’t want you to stop being my boyfriend.”

“I don’t have to.”

\--

“Lancashire’s Luke Errington scores again, besting the Harpies’ keeper, Natalia Bennett, once again. Errington’s goal makes the score 240-170.”

The crowd cheers so loud that Louis can almost feel the stands vibrating with excitement. In triumph, Errington flies a few circles around the goal posts, earning even more hoots from the fans. Louis is cheering too, so loud that his friends are telling him to shut up. He’s sat between Liam and Harry, both of whom are waving Lancashire flags. There’s a big group of his friends there, all of them (even Cara) dressed in the royal blue to represent Lancashire.

It’s June now, almost two weeks after graduation. Harry and Louis are extremely glad to be with each other; Louis doesn’t have plans to let this curly-haired cherub go any time soon. His hand is warm on Louis’s waist, and he smiles when he notices Louis staring at him. Louis smiles back, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

“Love you.” He murmurs. Harry turns before Louis can return his attention to the game, catching his lips in a chaste but meaningful kiss.

“Love you too.” Harry smiles against his lips. Louis never gets tired of hearing him say that. “So much.”

Standing here at the Euro Cup Championship, with his friends and the love of his life, a graduate of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Louis doesn’t think he could be any happier.

**Author's Note:**

> also, though i'm flattered, i don't want anyone translating this work into any other languages. sorry!


End file.
